EVALUATION OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY KNOWLEDGE AMONG UNDERGRADUATE DENTAL STUDENTS IN IRAN

Aim: Information and communication technology (ICT) has been playing an important role on Scientific development in dental education. The aim of this study was to survey information literacy of dental students and their attitude toward knowledge of ICT. Method and Materials: A questionnaire contained 17 items was used to data collection. Access of computer, knowledge of computer and operating system, and the internet related questions, was including self-assessment of their computer knowledge. SPSS version 15 was used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that rate of respondents was 80% and there is a not significant difference in computers and internet users of both sex. 50% of users were able to use Microsoft office production software. Only 30% of students had received the educational electronic material while 70% had not obtained them, not at all. The rate of Google search engine usage was 80.8% but the use of Pub Med database was 54.6% and Medline /Ovid was 15.4%. Conclusion: The present study revealed that the Information and communication technology comparable with students of other countries whereas accessibility of IT sources was poor. Expansion of computer-assisted learning which requires to careful strategic planning, resource sharing, IT education, increasing of electronic resources, and effective quality control should be implemented.